USA / Global
Articles by Cody Osborne
Nissan BladeGlider in Jeopardy as Panoz Sues Automaker For Deltawing Design Concept
Project 56 Le Mans Racer in 2012 Don Panoz, of Panoz Cars Inc, has slapped a lawsuit on Nissan for its new BladeGlider. Panoz Roadster You may remember that Panoz developed a Nissan-powered 2012 Le Mans Delta-wing racer. He is also the managing partner in a company called Deltawing Racing. The civil suit names Ben Bowlby (who worked fo...
General
Fleetdrive Offers Tesla Model S Test Drives to Fleets in the UK
Fleetdrive Electric has been instrumental in Tesla's success. Fleetdrive has long been an advocate for the EV industry, but in particular for Tesla. According to Fleetdrive, it "helped to fund first Tesla back in 2008." So, the company is definitely no stranger to the business. I bet they are ecstatic that the Model S has arrived (think t...
Video: Tesla Model S Door Handle Gets Transformed Into Beer Dispenser
*A word of warning, this video contains some NSFW language. I bet the first time you saw the Model S door handles you thought, "wow, that's slick!" I further bet you never thought you'd see a college kid care for a door handle so much that he'd add it to his home-brewed kegerator. Am I right? Yet here we are. I wonder if it was an electrical engineering student that drafted up th...
General
Elon Musk Tops Highest Paid CEO List
Tesla CEO and The Model S In 2012. If you recall, a month back we reported on Elon Musk feeling "financially comfortable." It seems he was finally stable enough to quit renting, so he then purchased a home. A $17 million dollar home. Tesla Factory Now we get an idea of just how comfortable he is, and you gotta believe that his stake in Te...
General
Saleen to Reveal Electric Supercar in 2014
Saleen S7 I'm already clearing out space in my garage in anticipation of a carbon fiber Saleen electric S7. Not that us mere mortals will be able to afford one. But just in case, I'm ready! Who wouldn't want to own an American made masterpiece, that's an all electric, race-ready supercar! Please note that the regular S7 weighs in at about 2,700 lbs. ...
Video: Volkswagen Shows Off e-Golf at 2013 LA Auto Show - Somehow It's Cargo Area Isn't Consumed by Batteries
Sometimes automakers are so dramatic about the smallest of things, and sometimes you practically miss a bombshell within a whole pile of technical specs. Volkswagen's presentation last week at the LA Auto Show undersold a breakthrough feature, that only us EV nerds get excited about. The video below details all you'd want to know about what VW has been working on, and what it will be working...
Battery Tech
Dow Chemical Sells Lithium-Ion Battery Division Dow Kokam to MBP Investors
Dow Chemical Company has announced that Dow Chem will sell its Dow Kokam ownership interest to the MBP (Townsend Ventures.) Dow in the sky! This is particularly interesting as their stated reason relates to their market strategy of "improving return on capital and total shareholder return." Seems as though they have a type of "range anxiety", where they fail...
General
Honda Accord - Including PHEV Version - Somehow Grab 2014 Green Car of the Year Award
If only the Tesla were fun to drive & a leap forward in technology, then it might get nominated for Green Car of the Year! The mission of Green Car Journal (as I understand it) is to "emphasize a joyful driving experience," while considering the categories of environmental impact, advancement in technology and fun-ness to drive. Sounds like a Tesla Model S to me, or does it? ...
Charging
Greenlots to Manage Maui's First Open Access DC Fast Charge Station
How many times have we pulled up to a charging station, only to find we didn't have the right network card and couldn't charge? Sometimes you can use the unit without having a card, but sometimes you can't, and then sometimes they change their rules. When you're new to electric vehicle ownership, you run into this quite often, because station providers all have different equipment, with different ...
General
Tesla Asks NHTSA To Investigate Fires, Will Fully Warrant Any Model S Fire, Confirms Ride Height Changes
Recent Tesla Model S Fire In Tennessee Many feared last week that there may be an inherent risk in the location of the battery pack of the Tesla Model S. Some even mentioned that it could be compounded by the vehicle's low ground clearance and the forward section of the Model S' battery pack. It seems Tesla not only heard these concerns, but is now responding, and in a b...
General
Industrial and Commercial Electric Vehicle Segments to Account For 50% of Total Plug-In Market From 2013-2023
Silently delivering packages worldwide. Seems like the perfect vehicle for Santa. A brand new report out of IDTechEx shows great promise for the EV industry. In a report published on Four Traders, IDTechEX makes a strong case for EV's, but mostly those in the commercial sector. The report explains why IDTechX thinks that 50% of the EV business will be commercial/industrial s...
General
Honda to Display Autonomous Version of Electric Micro Commuter at 2013 Tokyo Motor Show
Details are sparse on this little creation, as per usual Honda. To make it even more difficult for us, Honda shows off plenty one-off designs that may never see the assembly line. I'm starting to think Honda likes to show us what we can't have, and surprise us with the launch of something we've never seen. Here we go again. What we have here is an electric micro commuter (MC) in two vari...
General
Via Motors VTRUX to be Available for Public Test Drives at LA Auto Show; Via to Unveil "Surprise" in LA Too
It looks like VIA motors is really focused on the California market for the launch of its upcoming lineup. VIA's been in the news quite a bit lately, as we've covered their crash testing results for the van and VIA's new manufacturing facility (now updated with a sneak peak video detailing the facility in Mexico). VIA's tantalizing concept vehicle. Now, i...
Charging
Envision Solar's EV ARC Standalone Charging Station Now in Use at San Diego International Airport
Envision Solar is one of those companies doing something differently in the solar space. EV ARC Mock-UP This new charger seen here is still in the testing phase, but it will nevertheless be deployed at the San Diego airport for free charging over the next couple of weeks. This latest project (which we've reported on here) combines one of Envision's "Solar...
General
Canada: Number of Registered EVs More Than Doubled This Year
Chevy Volt is Canada's Top-Selling EV In the small automotive market that is Canada, EVs are making substantial gains year over year. Nissan LEAF Usually #2 in Canada in Terms of Monthly Sales Last year, there were 1,600 EVs registered in Canada. This year, we are up to 4,000 and climbing. Many factors are driving this growth, and th...
General
US Military to Acquire 92,000 Electric Vehicles by 2020
The US Military is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels in the world, using up more of this precious resource than all but 35 countries, according to Navigant Research. This simple fact can not be ignored; oil dependency is a festering weakness to the US Military, and soon this nuisance could become a full blown nightmare. This oncoming nightmare is precisely why the Depart...
Charging
Tesla to Open 6 Supercharger Stations in Arizona; First One to Be Operational By Year's End in Yuma
It seems as though Yuma, Arizona is a perfect site to put Arizona's first Tesla Supercharger charging station. A recent article in the Yuma Sun interviewed city officials who excitedly announced that "The Tesla Supercharger station in Yuma is on the fast track!" A quick look at Tesla's notoriously out-of-date Supercharger map contradicts that, showing three red dots (complete stations) in...
General
Tesla Model S to Launch in Australia by Early Summer 2014
Check your pockets, I'm sure there is AU $40k in there. Good ol' Tesla continues on its journey to take over the world! Behold the Right Hand Drive Model S!* This time, Tesla is attacking markets that require the right-hand-drive cars we reported on in the past. Australia is on that list and should be receiving the all electric sedan b...